at least 22 people have now lost their lives here. the least populated of new york's five boroughs and the highest death toll. for staten islanders, especially, the idea of a global sports and media spectacle being held on their shattered doorstep, it was infuriating and understandably so. today, new york mayor michael bloomberg who had been pushing for the race backed down, saying the marathon had become a course of controversy and division. the thousands of runners from around the world are already here. minutes after the decision we sent our producers to central park to get reactions from runners. some were surprised to get the news. >> you are sure? >> reporter: i'm sure. >> oh, my god. >> we are from germany. we prepared for over a year for this run. that is bad, totally bad. >> what can we do? keep on running. >> we will come back next year. we will come back next year. okay? >> reaction from some of the runners. i can tell you, reaction is pretty much unanimous on the island. the idea that runners were going to be running aroun